My university classes finished on Wednesday at noon last week. I’ve had so much going on since I found out I was starting my job in June that the reality of really being done university didn’t set in until someone in my class came up to me and said, “wow, you’re done school - congratulations!” Internally I was ready to start crying I was so surprised at this revelation, but externally I just looked very excited. Where did five years go? I know I say this all the time, but it really does feel like I just walked into my very first Psych 110 class in Saskatoon.

I moved up north on Saturday so I basically just had two days to get all of my things packed up in Edmonton. I spent most of Thursday procrastinating in the city and Friday wasting time. I didn’t move everything here with me, so for the longest time I just sat staring at my stuff trying to figure out what I needed to take and what I could leave to send home with mom and dad. I went to Carmen’s for a final goodbye Friday evening and even then I still didn’t have everything packed. When I got up Saturday morning I finally put some effort into getting what was left of my life packed into boxes. By 1 in the afternoon I had finally hit the road.

I expected driving out of town to be really hard. I expected to cry saying my final goodbyes to my friends. I expected to cry when I gave Aunty Carol a hug goodbye and told her thanks for everything. I didn’t expect to handle this move as well as I did. I tried calling my Mom Saturday morning as I was packing and I couldn’t reach her. That was the only time all day Saturday where I was fighting tears. I really needed to hear her voice and to be reassured. When she called me back I had to fight to keep my voice from breaking when I picked up the phone, but after hearing her voice and telling her my plans I started to feel a lot more comfortable about the whole thing.

I wouldn’t say that this move was easy. I’m sure the next time I have a bad day that the reality that this is a permanent move and not a vacation will set in, and I’ll so badly wish I were back in Edmonton with the friends I made there. After not crying during my goodbyes I fully expected to hit the outskirts of the city and release some kind of waterworks, but there were none. I cried for a good half hour the last time I left Calgary in May, so I really was expecting some kind of emotional response to this move. Leaving Calgary was different because I had gotten used to being so close to Shane and now I was going to be so far again. Leaving Edmonton was different because I was moving away for a real purpose. It really just feels like I’m just getting my life started.

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I arrived in town early Saturday evening and had a chance to spend some time getting to know the school a bit better with the teacher I’m staying with, as well as the school vice principal. They warned me that the 7’s I have for social are going to be a rough bunch, but also reassured me that it’s just one month. The thing I liked though was how I instantly felt at ease. I think at some point I’m going to go through a city with drawl when I realize that milk costs $5.00 or something, or that I can’t just run out to the store and grab something when I realize I need it. This slow paced, driving 45 minutes for groceries type of life is what I was raised on though. When you are from a small town you simply understand this feeling because it can’t really be explained. I wouldn’t say it feels like home here quite yet, but I’d say that even though I’ve only been here a couple of days so far I can already tell you that leaving is going to be hard at the end of next year.

We went for supper that night at the town bar, which despite its unclassy name is actually almost more classy than the bar at home. The food was good and it just felt nice. There were no slutty bar outfits to be seen, the food was good, and our server was one of last year’s grads. We went to another teacher’s house after for some Rock Band and even though I’d only been here at the time for less than five hours I already felt like it was going to be a good first year. Both the teacher I’m staying with and the teacher whose house we were at started their very first teaching jobs at this school. It’s going to be so supportive to have them as friends for this year because they’ll know and remember what it’s going to be like for me.

I feel comfortable here, which is so nice because I was worried about moving here. I am still a long way from home and it could be a very, very difficult year if I didn’t feel so comfortable here already. The place I’m staying for the month of June is right across the road from the house I’ll be staying in next year, and it’s on the golf course. I get the feeling of being at the lake and being in my hometown combined into one. I’m just so relieved that I feel this way here.

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I was in Calgary at the end of April when I got the call about my first teaching interview. It took me an hour to get up the nerve to return the call to set up the interview, after I’d rambled to my sister-in-law and phoned my mom for moral support. A week later I found myself in some town I’d never heard of, walking into a school I’d never seen before, and talking to people I’d never met before. I walked into the interview totally calm and laid back, because I wasn’t expecting to get the job. It was my very first interview and everyone at university said you should expect to hand out a ton of resumes and have many interviews before anyone offers you a job.

They called and offered me the job 12 minutes after I walked out of the interview. Similar to my response to getting the call for the interview it took me almost an hour to call them back. I had to call a number of other people before I worked up the nerve to return the call. I asked for a few days to think about it, even though my mind was pretty much already made up.

I start my very first paid teaching position tomorrow morning at 9am. My job description for June is a little bit different than what I’ll be teaching in the fall, but it’s really just hard to believe that this is where I am. I finished university classes for good on Wednesday and went right into packing for this move. I arrived here yesterday and hit the ground running. My job hasn’t even officially started yet and I already spent most of this afternoon helping set up for the track meet tomorrow. I really can’t believe that I’ve made it to this position. A teacher, a real full fledged, paid teacher.

Let tomorrow morning be the start of something new and exciting.

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And we’re back! The host for this website has been down for well over two weeks and we are finally back up and running! Expect an update very soon!

Well I’ve been tagged by a number of people, so I guess it’s finally time I give in and do it. Not that I haven’t wanted to, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Here are seven fantastic random tidbits of information about me:

1. I love quoting movies. I used to think I was the queen of doing this until I started spending more and more time with my brother and his wife. I realized that compared to them, I know nothing. The two of them totally dominate when it comes to remembering stupid movie lines. They watch way more movies than I do. My favorite movie to quote is Anchorman.

2. When I was younger I used to get sick all the time. If something was going around, I was going to catch it. The last couple years I have been relatively healthy, except when I do catch something, I catch it bad. I suffered all last week with a sore throat and a bad cold. I felt good on Friday and Saturday, only to wake up this morning suffering with tonsilitis. I suspect this will last at least until spring break because that is my life.

3. I could say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious backwards when I was in high school. Isn’t that a talent everybody wants? When I was in elementary school, around grade 4, we could pick one word each week to have as a spelling word and that was mine.

4. I love video games. I wish desperately that I had enough money to buy a Nintendo DS. My brother has one and I play it constantly when I’m with him. We bought a Sega Genesis. I loved Sonic. I have my own Playstation (the original) but it’s not here. Seriously, if I had money, I’d have so many systems. It is the dork in me.

5. My email addresses still gets me a lot of attention. Everyone remembers it, and whenever someone new finds out what it is they always comment on how cute it is, and how appropriate it is that I’m the person that has it.

6. Last week on Tuesday, during the middle of my sickness, I went with my friend Carmen to my very first NHL game - the Oilers against the Blues. We won! It was very good. I’m not a huge hockey fan. I don’t mind it, but I don’t watch it that often, but it’s been on my list of things to do for awhile and I figured I was already living in a city with an NHL team, so why not go? Plus, the tickets were free!

7. Spring is my favorite season. It’s all mucky out, and my car gets dirty, and it rains, but I love it. Love seeing the snow melt, jumping in puddles, and mostly, going quadding in the mud. I can’t wait to go home for spring break to get a little dirty.

My fun friend Jodi also tagged me with a different kind of tag.

5 years ago I was… in Calgary on spring break visiting Shane and Michelle when Mom called to tell me that I had a letter in the mail from the U of S telling me I had been accepted. I finally accepted the reality that I was going to be a teacher and that it was a good idea.

5 months ago I was…at my parents for the weekend. I had just returned from a week long trip to Portland, went to school for a day and came home to my aunt asking me if I’d like to make a quick trip home. Indeed I did. It was a short trip, but nice to go home and see everyone again.

5 things that worry me…getting a good job, paying back student loans, my grandpa’s health, being alone all my life, and driving in snowy conditions.

5 bad habits…biting my nails, not knowing when enough is enough, skipping classes at any time of the day, procrastination in general, and staying up too late doing nothing.

5 of my favorite places I’ve lived…I have only ever lived in five different places in my life so I guess all of them are my favorite. I think my last place in Saskatoon was the best though.

5 of my greatest blessings…choosing the right career, the friends I made here, being so close to my brother, my family, and great hair.

5 things in my virtual shopping bag…books, books, books, books, and shoes.

5 of my favorite things to blog about…good pictures, places I’ve gone, school, new music, and things that I’ve done.

I think I’m the last person to this tag party, so I won’t tag anyone!
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I just finished my third week back in the classroom today and I am sometimes overwhelmed by how badly I desire to be a teacher, to be done already, to be in a classroom with my own kids. On the flip side, by the time this week ended I can’t imagine what it will be like to not be with these kids. It took me two weeks to adjust to them, a really great week this week, and now I’m already starting to dread having to leave them, even though I’m only a third done my time with them.

I think a lot about how I can effect change in my students, how I can satisfy their needs, how I can get them to think deeper and look further. In a day where things are changing constantly I really wonder how I can possibly keep up and keep my kids current. During a staff meeting this morning we started by watching this video, and I think it sums up a lot of what I think about with my kids. Shift happens and what am I going to be doing to make my own shifts. This video gave me chills.

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The end of January was a whirlwind and I took an unexpected blogging break because of some things that were happening at that time. I wrote this post a million times in my head, and I am once again wishing that I had taken the time to write it then, when it meant so much more than it does now.

Because I spend nine weeks student teaching this term classes ended for me on February 1st, and I was done exams by February 6th. This is where my problems began. February 6th was the last day of exams for all of my friends, significant in the sense that these were their last exams ever. At the end of student teaching they are done, finished, free to go on with life. And I? I’m stuck here for two more classes. Now this isn’t even what bothers me, it’s the fact that being done means they get to go on with their life, and more importantly, move away.

Before I started student teaching and got too busy to think about things like this, my heart was heavy knowing that the circle of friends I made here was about to break apart. I realize this is all normal for growing up, but this is so different than high school. We don’t have a central meeting point. I won’t run into everyone over Christmas because we’re all back home again. There is a chance that it could be years before I see some of my friends again. Part of it also stems from the fact that I am the only non-Albertan of our group, and I don’t plan on staying here, which puts me even further away from everyone. When you spend almost two straight years running into any one of your friends at least once a day, knowing you might only run into them once every two years is a really big change.

I never wanted to move here, but finishing my degree was more important to me than staying somewhere I was comfortable, so I came anyway. These friends became my family here and I’m having a really hard time leaving them. And of course, because this is how life works, we all became closer as the end become nearer, which makes leaving that much harder. We spent a lot of time together our last couple of weeks on campus, from going bowling for my birthday, bowling again just because, out for meals, and spending pretty much every free minute hanging out on campus together. Plenty of opportunity for some good photo opportunities, but those pictures just make me miss them even more.

I never expected things to be like this at the end of my two years living here.
I never thought I wouldn’t want to leave.

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I snapped this shot tonight with the intention of getting that phrase for my picture of the day, however I was surprised by what else I caught when I put it on my computer. A little bit of me, and more specifically me catching it the “way I see it.” It, and this list are making for happy days this week:

-I got 93% on my music midterm.
-I am in a condensed term and today marked the halfway point and the end of midterms.
-My parents are driving down/up/sideways for my grad banquet on April 12, even though it’s in the middle of Mom’s busy tax season.
-Out of curiosity I have been looking at houses at home and the fact that they are cheaper there than they are here.
-Carmen and I are going skating on Sunday again.
-The fact that Education Week is next week and I’m attending a bunch of seminars.
-End of season sales at Reitmans where I bought 3 new tops and a pair of jeans for $50, giving me some dressier clothes to wear for student teaching.
-My favorite prof from last term agreed to write me a reference letter for my portfolio.
-Sherise and I are going to see 27 Dresses tomorrow, with a lunch date at Moxie’s first.
-I actually got the Michael’s flyer for once and there are a few things I’d like to pick up for dollar days!
-This and this.
-Starting to make plans for my birthday party next weekend.
-Life is good.

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I’ve been feeling a little…overwhelmed lately. Not so much about school, but about the natural process that comes after school. The growing up part. Grad banquet, grad applications, certification applications, education career fair, midterms, professional development sessions, resumes. I feel like it’s flying at me at a million miles and hour and I can barely catch my breath. I am keep up with school for the most part with flying colours, but it’s the life that happens after this that is getting to be too much. There is just so much to get done in the next couple of months, and I feel like it’s going to end far sooner than I’m ready.

How is it already the 16th of January? How is it already January of my 5th year of university? Didn’t I just walk into Psych 110 yesterday? I’m so close to the end that I’m afraid to lose the comfort blanket of the university. One thing I’m already really missing, and it isn’t even gone yet, is this:

My group of friends started to form the first day I set foot on campus. It’s slowly expanded to include others, but the base is still there. Three days a week we share the same break and eat lunch together and I love it. I am so grateful to have made these friends. I feel my experience here would be very different without having them in my life. We’ve all talked about how different things are going to be after this. How different it’s going to be not to see at least one of us every day, or eat lunch together three times a week, or even be in the same province. We’ve all been building toward this day for four or five years, and obviously it’s time we get out of school, but I’d sure like to be able to take them all with me wherever I go.

Oddly enough the thing that got me out of my funk tonight was talking about my future. Out of curiosity I was checking out some AB school boards just to see which cities were in what district, etc, which prompted me to start searching for real estate in certain communities. It progressed from there to looking for real estate around home. I’m pretty settled in moving home again to teach, and equally settled in the notion that I’d really like to buy a house sooner than later. I started looking at houses online with my mom and stumbled upon this cute house and it was like all my worries were gone. I flipped the switch from dreading what happens next to being excited about it. I should have started looking at houses sooner, because it gave me something to look forward too. Mom was more excited than I was I think, and her enthusiasm for having me home again almost made me wish the next four months would go by even faster. Almost. At least I’ve given myself something to look forward to!

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I felt a little overwhelmed when school started on Monday. No, wait, that’s a lie. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I’m in my last semester, which involves student teaching from February to April, so the classes I’m taking right now are condensed. Don’t let condensed fool you into thinking it’s less work. Oh no, it’s the same amount of work that a 3 month course takes, crammed into approximately 4 weeks. Now that the first week is under my belt I’m feeling a bit better about things, but regardless of that I was really happy to see Friday night roll around.

My friend Carmen is my friend Dale’s girlfriend, and lucky for me, she happens to live just down the street from me. Hanging out with her from time to time has been a sanity saver for me, when my friends in the city claim they’re just too busy, or heaven forbid they drive a half hour to get out here to see me. We got talking about boys last night and I made the point of telling her that we may have became friends because of Dale, but I will never stop being her friend because of Dale. Whether they break up some day or not, I hope to hang on to this one as a friend. My sanity requires that I do so.

So back in December before I went home for Christmas we got together one night for lasagna at Peter’s, and a movie at my place. Peter’s is right next to the park in the middle of town, where they flood the walkways in the winter so you can go skating. With all the Christmas lights lit up the park was gorgeous and we made plans to go skating as soon as I came home from Christmas. Of course if you read the first paragraph you know I was on my way to collapse the first day of school so our plans got put off a little.

Last night we finally made it to the park and skated for a half hour. Skating is very much like riding a bike, you never really forget how, though I’d definitely say it took me longer to get back into it than I had imagined. I blame this on the fact that my skates were about as sharp as a spoon. Stopping usually involved skating right into something and just hoping for the best. Following our attempts to perfect our pairs skating routine we hit up a fancy Greek restaraunt for supper where the two of us ate…and ate….and ate. Thank God we’d gone skating earlier to get our metabolism going! We finished off the night with the late night showing of Juno. Having only seen one preview (and just one time!) the movie was nothing like I had expected and better than I could have imagined. All the reviews I’ve read online and heard in person were right - that is one good movie!

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